Keeping class 1900 growing

[BiggJim]

Well this thread went to shit!

Regarding what Motive said about contingency, I have spoke about this before. Heck I think I have preached this before. You need to learn how to market your team, your class & the sport. Each time anyone puts a contingency decal on their car solely for the hopes of getting that contingency gift certificate is not only hurting their sponsors, but you are devaluing the other racers sponsorship's and the class as a whole.

If your primary sponsor who is actually paying you a set amount of money each race, found out that you put a decal on your car for free, I would bet they would not be happy, and not want to pay you for sponsorship. Why would they when they could contact BITD for free and offer a contingency plan for free. They could offer $500 to the winner and get on 20 plus cars for only the cost of the decals, and only pay if one of those cars wins the race. Meanwhile they were advertised on 20 cars and might not have to pay out a dime if the winner does not have their sticker. I bet I could be a dick and call some of your guys bigger sponsors and share this with them and get them to not only bail on your sponsorship, but do contingency and sponsor me on a Baja play trip and still be ahead! So dont devalue your paying sponsorship's on your car for a cheezy $100 Gift Cert.



Now another place the UTV racing community could grow is to work the Dealerships into the mix. The UTV class is pretty much the only class where the vehicle your racing is bought from a dealership first. It would be great if the Manufacturers would partner with the Dealerships to sponsor teams. So instead of Polaris giving Johnny or Sims cars or money, Polaris gives a set amount to the Dealerships and the sponsorship comes through them. So for example lets say Polaris gives Chaparral Motorsports in Riverside a racing budget and its up to Chaparral to find a team or teams to support. The support can come in the form of money and parts. Then the teams would be called "Team Chaparral" and not "Smith Racing" or whatever you call your team. Think about how Supercross does it. The team names are based off the sponsorships, like Red Bull KTM, Discount Tire Kawi, Rockstar Husky, Monster Kawai, or Geico Honda

Doing this would bring the dealerships closer to the manufacture as they could have behind the scene dealership rivalries as each dealership will want to beat the other and the manufacture could offer incentives to the dealerships that are winning races or Championships. Then this would also allow dealerships the option to offer more teams support then just the few we have now. And if a dealership found a bigger value in racing then what the Manufacture is giving them, they might see it worth their investment to add more money from their own advertising budget. Also in theory a dealership could double dip as they could be selling both Polaris & Yamaha and if they got a sponsorship budget from both manufactures they could actually sponsor more teams in different brand UTV's.

This also gives the spectator the option to root or have a relationship with a dealer through racing. As it is right now you dont root for "Smith Racing" as the only ones who know Smith Racing are the Smith's and their friends. But If you saw "Team Burt Meg Mall" or Team "Ride Now Powersports" and you have bought or looked at a UTV from them, no matter the brand, you might cheer for them as that is your home town dealership. Think about how people cheer for a Energy Drink on a car or bike team. Once again to use Supercross as an example, how many do you see walking around the stadium wearing Monster Energy T shirts or hats, because its Monster or they are with Kawasaki?



And lastly and I dont know how you do this, but Desert Racing is clearly a West Coast thing, that is mostly seen in 3 states. Ca, AZ & NV. If you could figure out how to get people in the other 45 states to know and see desert racing you would instantly grow your fan base, which in turn will bring more money to the sport.

We pass on contingency....Jamie used to kinda give me a hard time about it but now she see me pushing thru and just asks if I need event stickers. The look I got from her the first couple of times tell me most folks play the contingency game.

 

[george.felix]

Best post I've read of yours. I'm from Oklahoma and would love to race with all you guys. No way in hell would I even consider the investment to get started, to make the journey to attend the races, bring my friends, in the current state of the class. The rules are crazy and changed all the time, and no one can agree on anything. The factory teams are set up for success, while the privateers are basically told good luck. Build a car every 6 months? Yeah right!!!! On top of trying to put together the logistics to get my posse there, fuel, and any other expenditures. Why would anyone even dare try?

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Well except for the mid season rule changes which i agree is a lot......but some of the other things that have cone up are mostly isolated issues. No need to go into it but most of the race teams are extremely good sportsman and the "bad " teams are still pretty good sportsman when it comes down to it. I think the internet can blow things up sometimes.

To your point it can be done from Ok but it's not cheap regardless where your from. At the end of the day it's pretty damn cool when your in the car catching another car or being caught it's a adrenaline rush.....

 

[JoeyD23]

My $.02 here.

This class has a ton going for it. I believe what "drama" that has circulated here (which in the grand scheme is very little) on the site (in the class) was / is inevitable when you consider how fast the class has grown and how fast the vehicles have developed. Every race class goes through its growing pains. Sure, some threads here have felt like doom & gloom when in reality the bulk of the discussions surround one guy (Cory) and the inherent rules discussions due to the evolution of the vehicles at the OEM level.

I believe the class will continue to grow but I also believe we are teetering on a fine line which can and will dictate at what level and for how long we do continue to grow. It is obvious that I feel change or modification needs to be made to the way the rules are structured, enforced and governed and I think the majority of the class is in agreement. But just like every other class in motorsports, it will take drivers and team owners to stand up and dictate to the organizations exactly what they feel is best for the class. I think once this happens it will not only keep the class on the right track for growing but it will also give current and future racers confidence that the class has a stronger foundation and structure thus resulting in more growth and more sponsor / OEM involvement. We as a class need to control our destiny and shape our future, otherwise it could easily take a turn for the worse.

 

[jajl22]

I think one thing that is being over looked here is the role of grass roots racing in making the class grow as well. Hell it started as a grass roots class. This class is unique because it is one that you can get involved in grass roots racing at a relative discount to the much larger series. Impossible to do this in a TT or Class 1.

 

[PickupTrucker]

I am happy as a fan as long as I get to keep reading race reports and watching cool tuba art or utv underground videos. I love that the class keeps adding new things, I love that the manufactures are still competing with new technology, and I love that xp900 is still bad ass, whether it is competitive in the pro class or not i know it is fun to race. But it is more fun as a fan when the competitors complement eachither and make jokes rather than complain. But I'm with joey, that crap is pretty minimal and there is lots to be excited about